Product Description

“At last we get Paul Levinson's superb forensic sleuth, Phil D'Amato, in a full-length novel. If you know Phil from his previous appearances, I need say no more. If you don't, kick back and enjoy a mystery that spans the ages,” said Jack McDevitt of The Silk Code, the first Phil D'Amato novel. Now, D'Amato, hero of a number of stories published in Analog, is back.

The Consciousness Plague is about memory -- more particularly, how the loss of memory, in slivers of time deducted from a growing number of individuals, can subtly undermine and play havoc with everything from the investigation of serial stranglings to candlelight dinners. Dr. D'Amato, NYPD forensic detective, investigates a spate of unusual cases of memory loss and finds evidence of a bacteria-like organism that has lived in our brains since our origin as a species and may be responsible for our very consciousness. There's evidence for this consciousness bug in the ancient Phoenician and Viking cultures and everywhere he looks in our world.

A new antibiotic crosses the blood-brain barrier and inadvertently kills this essential bug. Phil himself is a victim of the memory drain, and must struggle to get the proper authorities to pay attention before everyone loses so much memory that they forget that they forgot in the first place.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2752977 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this latest, disappointing case from the files of forensic investigator Phil D'Amato (after 1999's The Silk Code), a flu epidemic is sweeping the nation and young women are turning up naked and strangled in New York City's Riverside Park. Oddly, several witnesses to the murders, all recent flu sufferers, seem to have trouble remembering what they've seen. Then D'Amato's girlfriend comes down with the flu and forgets that he's recently proposed to her. Later, D'Amato himself catches the bug and discovers that a day has disappeared from his memory as well. What ties these bouts of short-term amnesia together turns out to be not simply the flu but a new wonder drug, Omnin. D'Amato soon finds himself investigating both the serial murders and the increasingly serious possibility that Omnin and other advanced antibiotics may in fact be on the verge of destroying human memory. Unfortunately, Levinson's flat prose and almost tension-free narrative prevent this novel from taking off. The murders, which all occur offstage, and the victims, none of whom we really care about, fail to engage. The medical mystery, although not without some intellectual interest, is equally lacking in tension. The author also has the annoying habit of pulling rabbits out of hats. Top-notch bacteriologists and mysterious millionaire benefactors repeatedly turn up to render expert testimony or twist the arms of a hostile FDA committee when needed. Levinson is widely considered to be one of the better new SF writers, but this novel won't enhance his reputation. (Mar. 13)Forecast: The book could be targeted to fans of medical thrillers and police procedurals, though neither audience is likely to be that impressed.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Forensic detective Phil D'Amato finds his investigation into a series of brutal killings interrupted by the onset of a bizarre plague that leaves its victims without portions of their memories, a phenomenon that slowly erodes the underpinnings of society and civilization not to mention crime control. The second outing for the hero of The Silk Code pits D'Amato against criminals and colleagues as he tries to unravel a puzzle with its roots in ancient history and its genesis in the evolution of consciousness itself. Levinson's intelligent blend of police procedural and speculative fiction should appeal to fans of mystery and sf and belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
NYPD forensic detective Phil D'Amato's second adventure combines sf and police procedural just as felicitously as The Silk Code (1999) did. D'Amato has two mysteries on his hands, and the one involving a serial killer is actually the less important one. More important is the case arising from evidence that a new antibiotic is killing off bacteria in the brain--bacteria that enable consciousness and, just as critical, memory. The possible consequences of large numbers of people permanently losing slices of their lives and knowledge through loss of memory are, of course, disastrous, and while D'Amato sleuths, the tension never lets up. Superior narrative technique, thoroughly sound if rather conventional characterization, and the fact that both of D'Amato's cases are plausible, absorbing, and well developed make this a yarn to recommend to mystery and hard-science sf fans alike. It also more nearly reaches the heights of Isaac Asimov's classic sf mysteries than those of most other genre hands who attempt them manage to do these days. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A great read and a mnemonic of communications estorica
Dr. Phil D'Amato, NYPD forensic detective is a character who is easy to like. Smart, witty and well connected, he immediately becomes a person who the reader cares about. He is a worthy twenty-first century heir to my favorite, Sherlock Holmes.

The story is an engrossing mystery that weaves together serial strangulation murders of young college women in Manhattan and mysterious memory gaps triggered by a new antibiotic that seems to attack unknown microorganisms that unify the bicameral human brain.
The reader comes away entertained and educated in such diverse (yet related by the author's erudition) subjects as communication via the channels of the left and right brain, Marshall McLuhan, the essence of art, the successive (possible) rediscoveries of America by the Phoenicians, Irish (Celtic) monks, and Vikings, and a popular brand of perfume.

Most of the action occurs in New York City but the West Coast, the Midwest and Europe are included as locales. We learn about the importance of Lindisfarne, where one of my favorite illuminated manuscripts, the Lindisfarne Gospels, originated. We are introduced to the hypothesis that the Phoenicians, on their way to North America, taught the Celts to write.

Each revelation, no matter how esoteric, enriches the weave of the mystery, and draws the reader in deeper. Thus this excellent page turner also triggers awareness of many fascinating areas of communication. There is also a well developed supporting cast including police, academics and a politician or two.

I came away feeling enriched and entertained. The Consciousness Plague is a good read. Buy it.

deft sf/mystery mix
Phil D'Amato returns in this sharp, enjoyable, sometimes
superb novel. Levinson weaves together the search for
a serial murderer (police procedural) with a baffling
series of memory losses that may be related to the very
basis of our consciousness (science fiction). One of the
problems I often have with novels that try this kind of mix is that the science fiction is lumpy -- it doesn't really fit well
with the mystery part. But The Consciousness Plague handles
that beautifully -- Levinson serves the mystery with one
hand, the science fiction with another, the blend couldn't
be more natural. I think that this novel is, in many ways,
a better introduction to Phil D'Amato than The Silk Code
(though parts of that novel may be more profound).

A lovely little book
This is the first book I've read by this author and it's a sequel, although this didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. The first half or more is a nice combination of SF with modern police procedural. As the book progresses, though, the writer seems to lose an idea of where to go (and to some extent he's painted himself into a corner).

I liked the forgetfulness problem, although frankly Phil Dick has done this far better (FAR more frighteningly and effectively) in books like Ubik (if you like this one, Ubik will blow your doors off). Still, for a little novel, I enjoyed it, read it in about two sittings.

I agree with much of the criticism in other reviews here, but can't be too hard on the book. The writing is reasonably well crafted, if methodical, and I enjoyed it, even if suspending disbelief got harder at the book progressed.